Rays Owner Stu Sternberg On WFAN: Citi Field Staff Has Been 'Wonderful'
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Strangely enough this week, Stu Sternberg, a Brooklyn native, owns a baseball team that is playing home games in New York City.
Sternberg is the owner of the Tampa Bay Rays, whose three-game home series with the Yankees was moved to Citi Field because of Hurricane Irma.
Sternberg told WFAN's Mike Francesa on Tuesday he's grateful to the Mets' owners and the Citi Field staff for accommodating the games on such short notice.
"It's a lot to ask people to come in when they're not expecting it, to put on and open up a stadium for three days, from the clubhouse guys all the way to the ticket takers and security people and the field people -- and it's not cheap by any stretch," Sternberg said. "They did it, and in classic New York fashion -- I talked to a ton of people out there last night and they were all, just rolled right off their back, but they were wonderful."
Sternberg, however, admitted the Rays will take a financial hit for moving the games out of Tropicana Field.
"It's not devastating, but by the same token, they'll be costly," he said. "The Yankees, when they come into St. Pete, they draw. They're usually some of our largest gates of the year, and we'll miss out on them."
Sternberg said the Rays' ballpark fared well in the storm.
"It really couldn't have been any better considering where we were 12 hours before," he said. "So we came out of it well. Some damage to the building here or there, but nothing that'll impact it whatsoever."
He added that he expects his team, which is four games out of the American League wild card, to be able to host the Red Sox this weekend.
To listen to Francesa's interview with Sternberg, click on the audio player above.
